The event was hosted by the Frannie Peabody Center and was one of many around the country on World AIDS Day, which started in 1988 to raise awareness.

Since then, there have been advancements in medicine to help prevent and treat HIV. However, those on the front lines in Maine said the fight is far from over.

“The disease is still alive and well out in the community, spreading on a regular basis – as many as 50,000 people a year,” Dr. Owen Pickus said. “And out of that 50,000, maybe about one-third are unaware they have been infected.”

Pickus runs the Maine Centers for Healthcare in Westbrook and was the first doctor to take on the first AIDS case in Maine in 1984.

“After that it became sort of an onslaught, and I started seeing patients dying, literally every week,” Pickus said.

He said since then, great strides have been made, especially with medication.

“They all come in one tablet, once a day – a far cry from the old days when people were taking as many as 20, 30 tablets three to four times a day,” Pickus said.

Medication is helping people live longer and keep their HIV in check, he said.

“That means their chance of spreading HIV is 96 percent less than it would be otherwise,” Pickus said.

Although the state rates of HIV are relatively low, it’s still spreading, said Megan Hannan, executive director of the Frannie Peabody Center.

“So we estimate that there are about 1,800 people living with HIV in Maine right now. We have an average of 40 to 60 new infections each year. We’re at about 40 this year, so far that we know about,” Hannan said.

The key is prevention. For drug users, that means not sharing needles, and for everyone that means practicing safe sex, she said.

Pickus agreed.

“If the condom works and the condom is on, you will not become infected. You cannot get the disease without having secretions. You are not going to get it by kissing unless you have an open sore and the other person has blood because that is not going to happen,” Pickus said.

Everyone should know his or her HIV status and get tested.

The Frannie Peabody Center recommends everyone get tested so they know their status. The center handed out scarves as part of its red scarf project aimed at ending HIV and AIDS by 2030.